Patent GB-310672-A (GB)
Title: An improved apparatus for delivering and lighting cigarettes and the like
IPC: A24F15/10
Filed: 1928-05-14
Abstract: 310,672. Parker, C. W. May 14, 1928. Igniters combined with cigarette-delivery apparatus; lighting cigars and the like by frictional devices.-An apparatus for delivering lighted cigarettes or cigars, of the type comprising means for feeding cigarettes one at a time from a magazine to a holder, and suction and ignition means for lighting the cigarette, comprises means for shifting the holder between a lighting device and a suction device located at its opposite ends. In the apparatus shown, the following sequence of operations occurs as a result of a single actuation of the lever 13 :-A cigarette is fed from a hopper 46 by means of a pivoted ejector 44 to a tray 11 mounted at the front of the machine on a laterally-movable carrier 10; flexible arms 50 are moved forwardly to clamp the cigarette in the tray; the tray is moved laterally to cause one end of the cigarette to engage a suction head 107; a friction igniter device is operated, having a wicktube 71 arranged to produce a flame which ignites the other end of the cigarette; the diaphragm 89 of a bellows at the rear of the apparatus is extended to create a suction at the head 107 and through the cigarette; and, finally, the parts are returned to their normal position on release of the operating-lever 13. The lever 13 is mounted on a rock-shaft 17, which carries members 19, 20, 25, 28 operating respectively the clamping-arms 50 and tray 11, the igniting device, the cigarette ejector, and the suction bellows. The ejector, Figs. 10 - - 14, comprises a part-cylindrical member 44 secured to a shaft 39 beneath an opening at the lower end of the sloping floor 47 of the hopper 46, and has a cradle 42 to receive a single cigarette which, on rotation of the ejector to the position shown in Fig. 14, rolls into the tray 11. Agitators 15 on the ejector prevent packing of the cigarettes in the hopper. A slotted arm 25 on the shaft 17 operates the ejector by engaging an arm 41 on he shaft 39, the cam having a rest portion which maintains the ejector in the position shown in Fig. 14 until the cigarette has been lit and the clamping-arms 50 withdrawn. These clamping-arms are pivoted at 53 and are projected forwardly through angular slots 49 in the ejector cradle, as shown in Fig. 14, by means of an arm 55 connected by a spring 56 to the end of a lever 57, the lever 57 being depressed by a cam 19 on the shaft 17, which engages a shoulder 58 on the lever. The spring connection 56 allows the arms 57, while still retained in clamping position by the lever 57, to move laterally with the tray 11. The movements are timed so that the arms 50 are retracted before the return movement of the ejector occurs. The lateral movement of the. tray 11, which brings the end of the cigarette against the suction head 107, is effected by the cam 19, which engages the angular end 61 of an extension of a plate 10 which carries the tray 11, the plate 10 being slidably mounted and provided with a return spring 65. The elongated slots 49 in the ejector allow the arms 50 to move laterally with the tray 11. The igniter comprises a spirit &c. reservoir 7 having a wick tube 71 the end of which is normally covered by a cap 73 carried on an extension of the plate 10 which carries the tray 11. The lateral movement of the plate 10 removes the cap, the wick being thus ignited by a friction device comprising a flint 78 engaging a friction wheel 69 mounted on a shaft 70. The friction wheel is operated by the means shown in Fig. 15, comprising a hook 22 pivotally mounted on a plate 20 secured to the driving-shaft 17, the hook engaging a shoulder 83 on a plate 80 loosely mounted on the shaft 70. In operation, the plate 80 is given a counterclockwise rotation by the hook until it becomes disengaged from it, when it is quickly returned to the initial position by a spring 86, at the same time rotating the shaft 70 through a pawl 84 and ratchet wheel 81. The suction device comprises a bellows, situated towards the rear of the apparatus, and consisting of a flexible diaphragm 89, Fig. 10, secured to the edges of a trough-like body 88 and to a central plate 90 to which is pivoted one arm 92 of a bell-crank actuating lever. The other arm 90 of this lever is pivoted to one end of a longitudinally-slid able bar 36, the other end of which engages a pivoted locking-plate 31, Fig. 16. The bar 36 is, when inoperative, locked in the left-hand position by a pawl 103 which engages the end of a notch 102 in the underside of the bar. During the movement of the actuating lever, the locking-plate 31 is released from the action of a cam 35, which normally maintains it in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 16 by contact with its lower side; it is then swung to the full-line position by the action of a cam 29 on a pin 30 projecting from its face. The movement of the cam 28 extends a spring 33 attached to it and to the slidebar 36, until a trip arm 34 releases the pawl 103, and allows the spring 33 to move the bar 36 to the right, causing the bell-crank lever 92, 95 attached to it to expand the bellows, to cause suction at the head 107. On release of the actuating lever the shaft 17, and with it the cams 28 and 35, turn anti-clockwise releasing the tension of the spring 33 and allowing the spring 100 to move the bar 36 to the left, the other parts at the same time resuming their position of rest.